That Thing Called Fan Fiction
by kasey8473
Summary: Extremely AU  Takes place after 'The Monster at the End of this Book'. Ch. 1: For fun, Dean messes with the Supernatural fan girls using badly written PWPs.  Complete
1. It's All in the Adjectives

Title: That Thing Called Fan Fiction  
Summary: Extremely AU Takes place after 'The Monster at the End of this Book'. Ch. 1: For fun, Dean messes with the Supernatural fan girls using badly written PWPs.  
Chapter Title: It's All in the Adjectives  
Chapter: 1  
Rating: K+  
Disclaimer: Supernatural was created by Eric Kripke. No disrespect is intended.  
Notes: I adore absurdism. This work is entirely in the spirit of fun, so please take it that way. Any similarity to real user names is completely coincidental. And - I do realize if you look closely at the titles of the Carver Edlund 'books' the entire Roadhouse storyline episodes - and the Bela episodes - were not among them. I obviously like Jo, so I added them in. As for Bela…needed female characters….

* * *

After plowing through most of Chuck's books…okay skimming them, and carefully going through the history on Sam's laptop, Dean felt he had a handle on the whole fandom thing and it was bigger than he'd first thought. Those chicks on those forums were all nuts. So were the guys. Especially those who liked to think they were Dean - or Sam. Curious to learn a bit more, he clicked a few links and discovered people really did write stories about them. Besides Chuck. Bizarre. There was even a section at a fan fiction site that had stories in it. And not just about himself and Sam, but Ellen, Jo, Bella, Bobby and more.

Kind of freaked him out at first.

But then he started reading. Some of it wasn't half bad, but others? He wondered just how bad a story had to be before the fans rejected it.

It was raining the afternoon he got his first idea.

* * *

Title: Jo Does Dean  
Summary: The title says it all. Really.  
Rating: M, for lots of sex and I mean lots

**Reviews for 'Jo Does Dean':**

-"_Your story premise is stupid and cliché. I want the time it took to read it back.  
__sam4ever"_

Private message to sam4ever -  
"sam4ever - Your review is stupid and cliché. I want the time it took to read it back.  
TheRealDean"

* * *

- _"OMG! OMGOMGOMG! HOT!  
__deanrocksmysocks"_

Private message to deanrocksmysocks -  
"Thanks. I thought so too. Love your user name!  
TheRealDean"

* * *

- _"Like Jo would behave like that. It's obvious you have no real insight into the female psyche, because while she was flirting with Dean, she seemed to expect him to make a solid move first. I really don't see her as the 'hey baby let me bang you on the hood of your car' sort of woman. Or the type to get off on having other people watch. What makes you think she has a tattoo? Especially one there?  
__JBethH"_

Private message to JBethH -  
"It's my story. If I want her to have a tattoo there she will. Deal with it. In fact, if I want her to be the sort of woman who gets a Brazilian wax, I will.  
TheRealDean"

Private message to TheRealDean -  
"I just don't see Jo as the type to get a protection tattoo. I think she's more of a jewelry woman, myself. An amulet on a slim silver chain perhaps? Or a charm bracelet. Besides, what woman willingly gets a tattoo there? Tell me that. A Brazilian wax? Have you ever had hot wax in the groin area? Not exactly pleasant, let me tell you.  
JBethH"

Private message to JBethH -  
"You want names and phone numbers, sweetheart? As for the hot wax - are you offering to get kinky? Because I could so get into that if you're a hot chick.  
TheRealDean"

Private message to TheRealDean -  
"You're a pig.  
JBethH"

Private message to JBethH -  
"Hey, you were the one expecting romance and 'insight into the female psyche' in porn.  
TheRealDean"

* * *

- "_More! More! More! Soooo hot! Sexy! U writ good!  
__Sexysexyreader"_

Private message to Sexysexyreader -  
"Thanks. I appreciate that. It's reviewers like you who make me feel pride in my work.  
TheRealDean"

* * *

- _"You suck! Your story sucks! You botj suck!  
__Jo-is-a-ho"_

Private message to Jo-is-a-ho -  
Jo is not a ho and you suck, along with your spelling.  
TheRealDean"

* * *

The first story a hit, at least he thought so, Dean mixed things up a bit. He switched a few sentences around, added a few details that could get him kicked off the site if anyone reported him, and uploaded a second story. Then he sat back and waited for the reviews to come in. This promised to be entertaining.

* * *

Title: Dean Does Jo  
Summary: Again, self-explanatory. Read it!  
Rating: M, for tons of graphic sex

**Reviews for 'Dean Does Jo':**

- _"While this is better than your last attempt to write PWP, I have to take exception to your portrayal of Jo as a raging nympho who has nothing better to do with her time than screw Dean on every surface available, even if it was made plain that she wanted him. In my experience, those hotel tables aren't really that sturdy. Also, what makes you think she has a piercing there? What woman in her right mind would do that?  
__JBethH"_

Private message to JBethH -  
"What makes you think she isn't and doesn't?  
TheRealDean"

Private message to TheRealDean -  
"She's never been written as a nympho or with a piercing there. I'm a bit curious where you got that idea for her.  
JBethH"

Private message to JBethH -  
"She hasn't been written that way until now. It's my story I'll write her as I want. If I want to make her jump Sammy, I will. I won't, but I could. I think Jo could get wild. I agree about the tables though. They collapse far too easily.  
TheRealDean"

Private message to TheRealDean -  
"Why do you think she could be wild?  
JBethH"

Private message to JBethH -  
"Okay, JBethH. I'll bite. The girl ran off after two men she barely knew and didn't bat an eye at spending who knows how long in a mostly empty apartment building with them. Seems a little wild to me sweetheart.  
TheRealDean"

Private message to TheRealDean -  
"Determined, maybe. Stubborn, maybe. I don't think it makes her wild, though. She ran off, as you put it, to hunt with two men she trusted.  
JBethH"

Private message to JBethH -  
"She behaved like a schoolgirl.  
TheRealDean"

Private message to TheRealDean -  
"Schoolgirl? Jerk. No, not a jerk. I was right before. You're a pig.  
JBethH"

Private message to JBethH -  
"Thanks. That's sweet of you. Want to meet for drinks later? What are you wearing?  
TheRealDean"

Private message to TheRealDean -  
"You could be the real Dean with remarks like that.  
JBethH"

Private message to JBethH -  
"I'm touched by the comparison.  
TheRealDean"

* * *

- _"Why Jo? You should write Wincest. It's hotter.  
__deansamissexy"_

Private message to deansamissexy -  
"They're brothers. Did you maybe miss that part?  
TheRealDean"

-Private message to TheRealDean -  
"It's still hotter.  
deansamissexy"

Private message to deansamissexy -  
"It's incest and it's wrong. You're a freak. You do know that right?  
TheRealDean"

* * *

- _"Do you take requests? Do you write character death? Because I'd love to see one where Dean falls for Jo and she dies and he has to deal with it and he cries a lot. I love it when Dean cries! Would you write that? It'd be so cool! Thanks!  
__deanfannumberone"_

Private message to deanfannumberone -  
You have issues. See someone for that, okay?  
TheRealDean"

* * *

- _"So, out of the women available in canon, you picked Jo. That's interesting. Why Jo? What makes Jo so appealing? We should talk about this in depth. It's obvious you have some issues. Your writing clearly displays a lack of maturity.  
__analystwannabe" _

Private message to analystwannabe -  
So, out of the fics available, you picked this one. That's interesting. Why this one? What makes this one so appealing? We should talk about this in depth. It's obvious you have some issues. Your review clearly displays a lack of maturity.  
TheRealDean"

* * *

Pleased with the response he received from that story, Dean set about writing a new one, this time not paying any attention whatsoever to decent grammar or spelling. He found cobbling together soft porn to be fun and relaxing. Sam kept giving him odd looks, but that hardly bothered him. The ideas were flowing now! He posted the next story within a couple days.

* * *

Title: Adventures in the Backseat  
Summary: Lots of sex.  
Rating: M

**Reviews for 'Adventures in the Backseat':**

_- "I wasted time on something that isn't even Wincest? Backseat is suggestive of it. Might want to change the title or summary to reflect this.  
__boththeboys"_

Private message to boththeboys -  
"Backseat as in the car, moron.  
TheRealDean"

* * *

- _"OMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMGOMG!  
__sexysexyreader"_

- _"While I'm pleased to see you branching out from Jo and assassinating the characterization of other female characters, I wonder how Ellen would feel about being the older woman who takes Dean in hand - literally - and teaches him a few things he didn't already know.  
__JBethH"_

Private message to JBethH-  
"Imagine me snickering, because I am. What older woman wouldn't want a young stud like Dean in the sack? I think Ellen could really get into it. Rowr!  
TheRealDean"

Private message to TheRealDean -  
"Rowr? Ahh, I get it. Cougar reference, meaning sexy older woman. But don't you think she considers him a son? I got that impression. Couldn't that be considered emotional incest? Hey, aren't you the guy who posted a flame on the Wincest board the other day?  
JBethH"

Private message to JBethH -  
"I don't know what you're talking about. Besides, they started it.  
TheRealDean"

* * *

It quickly became boring reading the same sort of reviews over and over and composing replies to them. Dean waited for the sorts of reviews a few of his readers sent, like that JBethH chick. He liked her. She didn't appear to write anything herself, had no personal website listed, nor was her email public, but she had a ton of stories and authors in her favorites sections. He perused the list, doing a quick check on each author she had listed. The descriptions of one author's stories caught his eye.

SamIam5283.

After reading two of the shorter stories, Dean decided to keep him on his alerts. There was something strange about that author. He knew too much.

* * *

Title: Bela Does Dean  
Summary: So much sex it's not even funny.  
Rating: M of course

**Reviews for 'Bela Does Dean':**

* * *

- "_Awesome hate sex! Can't wait to read more from you!  
__BelaBelaBela"_

- "_I'd love to read more Bela stories from you. This ones made of awesomeness!  
__Belasababe_"

* * *

- "_This is the exact same story as 'Jo Does Dean'. You just changed 'Jo' to 'Bela'. You didn't even change her hair color.  
__JBethH"_

Private Message to JBethH -  
"Sure, but changing the names really changes the connotation of every little detail, doesn't it? There's such a difference between Jo and Bela as characters.  
TheRealDean"

Private Message to TheRealDean -  
"*snort* Not as you write them.  
JBethH"

* * *

Dean spent even less time than he had previously on his next offering, not bothering to try to think about how Jo might react to his semi-plot - not that he'd given it much thought thus far. As far as his purposes were concerned, Jo was a character, not a flesh and blood woman he knew in real life. Besides, wasn't like she'd ever come across these stories anyway and if she did, wasn't like she'd know it was him writing them.

* * *

Title: Jo Does Dean, the Sequel  
Summary: The good times continue.  
Rating: M sex

**Reviews for 'Jo Does Dean, the Sequel':**

- _Wow. Your writing has actually regressed and is worse than that first PWP you posted. It's amazing really. You continue to assassinate Jo as a character to a fascinating degree. So, in the time between the first story and this one, she's started working as a stripper? And she refuses to give Sam a lap dance, but gives Dean a freebie?  
__JBethH"_

Private message to JBethH -  
"Always a pleasure to hear from you sweetheart. Your reviews warm my heart. I couldn't carry on without your gentle words to guide me.  
TheRealDean"

Private message to TheRealDean -  
"Smartass.  
JBethH"

* * *

Title: Dean Does Jo Again  
Summary: There's a slight chance there's some sex in this story.  
Rating: M

**Reviews for 'Dean Does Jo Again' -**

- _"I have no words. Absolutely none.  
__JBethH"_

Private message to JBethH -  
"That's a first. Want me to come give you a sponge bath to make you feel better?  
The RealDean"

Private message to TheRealDean -  
"You've taken fantasy to such a new level in this PWP that it makes me wonder if you know the difference between fantasy and reality.  
JBethH"

Private message to JBethH -  
"A new level? So you're saying I'm a prodigy then? Awesome!  
TheRealDean"

Private message to TheRealDean -  
"That's certainly one word you could use. Disturbed comes to mind as well.  
JBethH"

Private message to JBethH -  
"Stop with the compliments already. I'm blushing.  
TheRealDean"

* * *

- "_I don't get it. Is this like a repost or a sequel?  
__perpetuallyconfusedfangirl_"

Private message to perpetuallyconfusedfangirl -  
"Don't strain your brain, sweetheart. It's a sequel.  
TheRealDean"

* * *

After a few more stories, where all he did was switch names back and forth, and ignored other details, Dean settled in to lurk. There was something about both JBethH and SamIam5283 that was bothering him, but he couldn't quite figure out what.


	2. So Totally AU, Dude

Title: That Thing Called Fan Fiction  
Summary: Extreme AU Takes place after 'The Monster at the End of this Book'. Ch. 2: Sam has been writing. Specifically? Fanfic. Supernatural fanfic. The weird part? He doesn't feel weird doing it.  
Chapter Title: So Totally AU, Dude  
Chapter: 2  
Rating: K+  
Disclaimer: Supernatural was created by Eric Kripke. No disrespect is intended.  
Notes: The journal community mentioned is one I made up. Thanks for the comments!

* * *

Dean was cackling again. Sam shot a glance his direction, shook his head, and returned his attention to the magazine he was reading. Dean had been cackling a lot lately, usually while sitting at the laptop, but as he hadn't managed to pull up porn that froze the screen, Sam wasn't going to say anything. Dean needed a little amusement and if he could manage to amuse himself without casualties of any kind, all the better.

Sam's mind wandered as he perused the pictures on the pages. Lately, he'd been writing to let off steam. It was a satisfactory way to take out his frustrations about Dean and life in general. He could put pen to paper, or rather fingers to keyboard, and create just about anything he wanted.

His first story was a short one, mostly his feelings, and once it had been completed to his satisfaction, he'd shopped websites for the best place to post it. Who knew fan fiction was such a culture experience? He'd found one big fan fiction website that had categories for all sorts of books, movies, television shows and more. Nestled in the book page was 'Supernatural'. And there were even stories in the category. So Sam set up an account as 'SamIam5283' and set to work posting his first story.

He didn't read any of the other stories at first, simply skimmed the listings and made a note of terms he was curious about. AU - Alternate Universe. PWP - Plot? What Plot? or Porn Without Plot. The reviews he got for his honest emotions splayed out as entertainment were an ego boost right when he needed it. He'd expected to feel weird, maybe a little freaked out, but apparently, he'd gotten that all out of his system already. So Sam started another story and soon the ball was rolling. He was reading other stories and writing more, letting himself wonder just what could have happened.

True, it was technically RPF - Real Person Fic, but who was going to know that? Chuck, of course. Himself, Dean. Sam didn't think anyone else would ever run into those books and the fandom. He could let himself imagine anything and everything. And did.

Maybe he should have stopped writing once it felt _not_ strange to write about himself as a fictional character though, because the more he wrote, the easier it became….

* * *

Title: In The Season of Bitter Sorrow  
Author: SamIam5283  
Rating: M, for language and sexual content  
Summary: AU Sam and Jo ponder their relationship and decide just what could be in their future together. Set after 'Born Under a Bad Sign.'

**Reviews for 'In The Season of Bitter Sorrow':**

- _"Wow. I've been scouring the net for quality Jo/Sam fics. There's a serious dearth of them out there. Finally, I found your fic. The detail, the plot. I love this piece! The language is lyrical, the emotions true. You dealt with the aftermath of BUABS in a realistic manner. I actually felt Sam's pain at the end when he realized there could be no future with her and Jo's despair at waking to find him gone. Jo's own emotional pain simply touched me and I found her very in-character, right down to her reasons for starting that relationship with Sam. I could see that happening in an AU - with ease. Excellent! I'm curious though. Why did you choose lavender and vanilla for the body wash Jo uses? Was that a detail I missed in the books?  
__JBethH"_

Private message to JBethH -  
"Thank you for the detailed review. I've got something of a soft spot for Jo. The body wash? No, it's not in the books, I don't think. It seemed like a combination Jo would like. A little girly, but more adult than just lavender or vanilla alone.  
SamIam5283"

Private message to SamIam5283 -  
"I think she'd like it too. Good choice!  
JBethH"

* * *

- _"OMG! This is too awesome! Angst and drama and good sex scenes! You rock! *does happy dance and runs off to look at author's other works*  
__Samsgirl4ever"_

Private message to Samsgirl4ever -  
"Glad you liked it.  
SamIam5283"

* * *

- "_This story is a beautiful read from start to finish. I'll even admit to crying at the end. So sad, so heart wrenching and wholly in character for both of them. Mind if I rec it at the Sam/Jo shipper community?  
__sam4ever"_

Private message to sam4ever -  
"I don't mind at all. Where would I find this community?  
SamIam5283"

Private message to SamIam5283 -  
"It's a relatively new community, but there's a lot of good discussion that goes on. It'd be great if you posted. www .community. totaldailyjournal. sam_jo. com/  
sam4ever"

* * *

- "_Needs more sex and since when is Jo into Sam? She totally had the hots for Dean, dude.  
__TheRealDean"_

Private message to TheRealDean -  
"AU _dude_. Alternate Universe. That means Jo can be into Sam.  
SamIam5283"

Private message to SamIam5283 -  
"I know what AU means. I still don't think Jo would be into Sam. She made it very clear she wanted to bang Dean.  
TheRealDean"

Private message to TheRealDean -  
"People change and if you'd actually read the story you'd know I did deal with the issue of her feelings for Dean.  
SamIam5283"

Private message to SamIam5283 -  
"Like that was a believable manner of dealing with it? That girly talking crap? Please. She'd still jump Dean in a heartbeat.  
TheRealDean"

Private message to TheRealDean -  
"Why are you so bent out of shape by this story? It's an AU, which leaves plenty of leeway for the different ways things could have happened but didn't. You're an author, with several works listed, and judging by the titles, you've got Dean getting plenty of Jo action. So why get upset by my story? It's hardly the only Jo/Sam fic out there.  
SamIam5283"

Private message to SamIam5283 -  
"I think you're pretending something that wasn't there. Jo had the hots for Dean. End of story. She didn't want to do the mattress mambo with Sam.  
TheRealDean"

Private message to TheRealDean -  
"Not arguing that. She did have the hots for Dean. Look, this is a big site and there's room for both our stories. I'm going to be blunt here. Piss off.  
SamIam5283"

Private message to SamIam5283 -  
"Bitch.  
TheRealDean"

* * *

Sam read the last reply and shook his head. Jerk, he thought, and deleted the entire exchange.

* * *

- "_Do you take requests? Do you write character death? Because I'd love to see something similar only where Sam falls for Jo and she dies and he has to deal with it and he cries a lot. I love it when Sam cries! Would you write that? It'd be so cool! Thanks!  
__samfannumberone"_

Private message to samfannumberone -  
"I'm sorry, I don't take requests.  
SamIam5283"

* * *

What was the obsession with character death? Sam pondered that one, along with the 'ships. He'd noticed that the 'shipper communities weren't always the nicest to each other, which seemed odd to him because everyone could have their own opinion. Not everyone had to agree, yet they'd argue over and over about who was best romantically for Dean or Sam, becoming obsessively defensive. He guessed the books only fueled that really, with no real resolution on that matter because _they_ didn't have resolution.

It wasn't the first request he'd gotten to write the death of a character. Usually the requests involved Jo, which seemed odd to him because he thought Jo was nice. Sure she needed a little maturity, but couldn't the same be said about him and Dean both? He'd had a couple Ellen and Bela death requests as well. If he could help it, he wasn't going to be killing off anyone. Fan fiction was for making things right when reality failed, wasn't it?

He turned his attention to the rest of the reviews that had come in.

* * *

- "_Sam and Jo? Where'd you get the idea for this steaming pile of crap?  
__Deansgirlalways"_

* * *

- "_WowOMGwowOMGOMG! JoSam = love!  
__Jo_is_totally_awesome"_

* * *

- _"Jo? Your story suck! You suck! You sick so bady you sucl, suck, sux! Your an idot!  
__Jo-is-a-ho"_

* * *

- _OMG, you totally got flamed! You should report their ass. Don't listen to the haters, SamIam5283. You've got a total gift of verse going on. You should be a professional. Are you a professional? If so, what have you written so I can read it, too!  
__OnlyAReaderNotEverAWriter"_

Private message to OnlyAReaderNotEverAWriter -  
"Thank you for taking the time to review. I'm not too concerned about reviewers who can't spell check their reviews before pushing the send button. No, I'm not a professional writer. Maybe I'll consider that someday.  
SamIam5283"

* * *

Title: When the Dawn Comes  
Author: SamIam5283  
Summary: Sam reflects on his feelings for Jess. Pre 'Supernatural'.  
Rating: K+

**Reviews for "When the Dawn Comes":**

-_Another beautiful offering! After reading this, I feel like I really understand the sort of relationship Sam and Jess had. It makes the tragedy of what happened to her even worse.  
__JBethH_"

Private message to JBethH -  
"I'm glad you liked it. Thanks for taking the time to review.  
SamIam5283"

* * *

He kept writing, usually getting decent reviews except for that TheRealDean guy. The guy was a pain in the ass who wrote nothing but grammatically incorrect porn and stupid reviews.

Curious, Sam clicked on TheRealDean's profile page and did a quick read-through of a couple of his stories. As he read, he began to get the idea that all was not what it looked like with that author. The stories couldn't be serious. Couldn't be. They were too clichéd, too…. He flicked his gaze to where Dean sat perusing a magazine. Honestly, they were too much like what Dean would write if he had any inclination towards writing stories. Heavy on the sex, low on the plot.

He went into the history and was surprised to find all but that day gone. Strange. "Hey, uh, Dean?"

"Yeah?"

"Did you clear the cache and history on here?"

"Did I what the what and what?"

"Clear the…." He shook his head. "You know what? Never mind. It's not important." He looked back at the computer screen just as Dean snickered. "Did you just snicker?"

"Who me? You're imagining things. I'm just sitting here reading all about," he waved the magazine, "naked chicks." He flipped it over to display one page and pointed at the picture. "This is Bambie. She likes long walks in the moonlight, motorcycles, and Shakespeare. A real cultural woman."

"Who also likes posing nude for money. You written about any naked women lately?"

"Naw, I don't write fan letters."

Sam sat back and decided he'd just have to watch Dean carefully for awhile, maybe catch him in the act of writing and bust him on it. The idea that he himself could be busted in return didn't actually occur to him right then.

* * *

The font of inspiration did not run short for Dean, largely due to his active, fertile imagination where women and all things sexual were concerned. He dashed off a new story, this time typing as fast as he could and not bothering to correct anything at all, even the capitalization of names. He was proud of how low this piece had sunk from his first story. Surely, this would be the one that got rejected!

* * *

Title: Girls Night In  
Summary: Bela and Jo have plans for Dean and Sam is a jealous boy.  
Rating: M, of course

**Reviews for 'Girls Night In'**:

- "_Like Sam couldn't get either Bela or Jo. This story is stupid and pointless. Learn to use spellcheck.  
__Sam4ever_ "

* * *

- "_Do you take requests? Do you write character death? Because I'd love to see one where Dean falls for Bela and she dies and he has to deal with it and he cries a lot. I love it when Dean cries! Would you write that? It'd be so cool! Thanks!  
__deanfannumberone"_

Private message to deanfannumberone -  
"Still haven't gotten help for those issues I see.  
TheRealDean"

* * *

- "_Dude, seriously? Sam gets laid. He's not a monk, you know. As for the rest of this loosely termed 'plot', I don't think either Bela or Jo would behave that way. Videotaping their sexcapades so Dean could watch them later? Right.  
__SamIAm5283"_

Private message to SamIAm5283 -  
"You're kidding, right? Sam needs to have a serious sex-fest and lighten up. As for Bela and Jo, they're both very determined women. Tell me you wouldn't be on board with them videotaping the fun.  
TheRealDean"

Private message to SamIAm5283 -  
"No answer, huh? I'll take that as a big, fat 'yes'.  
TheRealDean"

* * *

- "_OMG! Hottest story EVAR! U Totally rock! *adds too favorites*  
__2ononeisfun"_

Private message to 2ononeisfun -  
"Thanks. I feel this is probably my best work so far.  
TheRealDean"

* * *

- "_I was expecting your work to digress with each new story by now, but you really deliver don't you? You even exceeded my expectations. Offensive, explicit, continuing to assassinate characters, this time adding Sam to the list. Do you have a checklist you're going through by any chance? While the strip poker part actually makes sense, the rest of this piece is nearly unreadable. Typing with one hand I assume?  
JBethH"_

Private message to JBethH -  
"Mmmm. You know it, sweetheart. Double the ladies, double the fun, if you know what I mean. And I always deliver. Stick with me, baby, I'll give you the bonus plan. *wink*  
TheRealDean"

Private message to TheRealDean -  
"I think the village idiot would know what you mean. Not like you're subtle. Are you flirting with me? *raises one brow*  
JBethH"

Private message to JBethH -  
"I could turn that question back to you, you persistent vixen.  
TheRealDean"

Private message to TheRealDean -  
"*rolls eyes* Any more stupid male fantasies you'd like to inflict upon us?  
JBethH"

Private message to JBethH -  
"Now that you mention it…. I might have one or two more ideas.  
TheRealDean"

* * *

Title: Fun in Philly  
Summary: Jo thanks Dean for saving her life. She's very appreciative. Sam is jealous.  
Rating: M

**Reviews for 'Fun in Philly':**

- "_Oh Geez. Pee your pants terror at a whole other level.  
__JBethH"_

Private message to JBethH -  
"That little fic scares you, sweetheart? You don't think she and Dean could have gotten up close and personal before Ellen showed up?  
TheRealDean"

Private message to TheRealDean -  
"Not quite what I meant by a whole other level  
JBethH"

Private message to JBethH -  
"Enlighten me. I'm all ears. Er…eyes.  
TheRealDean"

Private message to TheRealDean -  
"Seriously? You're all eyes and ears? Here I thought you were all talk. I meant terror at how your mind works. Frightening to behold and yet fascinating at the same time, like watching a gory accident. I can't seem to look away.  
JBethH"

Private message to JBethH -  
"Intrigued by me, are you?  
TheRealDean"

Private message to TheRealDean -  
"More like disgusted.  
JBethH"

Private message to JBethH -  
"Yeah, you want me bad, don't you?  
TheRealDean"

Private message to TheRealDean -  
"Dream on, writer boy - and I use the term 'writer' loosely to describe you.  
JBethH"

* * *

Title: Like Mother, Like Daughter  
Summary: Dean's been a bad boy and Ellen and Jo know just how to take care of him.  
Rating: M for magnificent!

**Reviews for 'Like Mother, Like Daughter':**

- _Your offensive level just skyrocketed. And you had the nerve to flame the Wincest boards?  
__JBethH_"

Private message to JBethH -  
"What? They both love them some Dean. Ellen and Jo I mean, though I guess the Wincest writers could count, too.  
TheRealDean"

Private message to TheRealDean -  
"At the same time? Eeeeewwww. I need to scrub my brain with bleach now.  
JBethH"

Private message to JBethH -  
"Bath time? Alright! Now we're talking! Can I scrub your front? Pretty please?  
The RealDean"

Private message to TheRealDean -  
"Pervert.  
JBethH"

Private message to JBethH -  
"You know you want me. *kiss noise*  
TheRealDean"

* * *

- "_Dude. Just…no. No. That is so wrong.  
__SamIAm5283"_

Private message to SamIAm5283 -  
"And yet so right at the same time. Admit it. Ellen and Jo would be a good team.  
TheRealDean"

Private message to TheRealDean -  
"You have serious issues.  
SamIAm5283"

Private message to SamIAm5283 -  
"Hey, who doesn't? I refuse to apologize for my perfectly natural enjoyment of women.  
TheRealDean"

Private message to TheRealDean -  
"Tell me you know the difference between porn and reality?  
SamIAm5283"

Private message to SamIAm5283 -  
"Reality is the boring one, right?  
TheRealDean"

Private message to TheRealDean -  
"Does your mom know you're jerking off in the basement while she's making dinner?  
SamIAm5283"

Private message to SamIAm5283 -  
"No, but your mom does. She says 'hi'.  
TheRealDean"

Private message to TheRealDean -  
"That was real mature.  
SamIAm5283"

Private message to SamIAm5283 -  
"Don't dish it out if you can't take it.  
TheRealDean"

* * *

Dean continued to heckle SamIAm5283 and exchange flirty private messages with JBethH. His story count - quickly churned out porn drivel - steadily climbed, as did the number of people adding the pieces to their favorites lists and him to their favorite authors. Was there nothing that would disgust people enough to actually be rejected? JBethH had accused him of using a checklist, which was exactly what he was doing. He used a mental checklist and was even starting to lost interest in _trying_ to disgust people.

Maybe just a couple more stories and he'd lay this experiment, and the mystery of both JBethH and SamIAm5283, to rest.


	3. Real is Only a Word, Sweetie

Title: That Thing Called Fan Fiction  
Summary: AU Takes place after 'The Monster at the End of this Book'. Ch. 3: Dean continues to write and suspect Sam of the same. Jo discovers the world of 'Supernatural' fandom and jumps right in.  
Chapter Title: Real is only a Word, Sweetie  
Chapter 3  
Rating: K+  
Disclaimer: Supernatural was created by Eric Kripke. No disrespect is intended.

* * *

Dean sat staring at Sam's computer wallpaper, wishing he was better at this whole computer stuff. The internet he had a handle on. That was just point and click, and he knew how to cover his obvious tracks by now, like deleting the history and cookies. Out of fear for his laptop, Sam had once given him a long lecture on computer care like he was a three year old or something.

As for sniffing out Sam's tracks? Not gonna happen. Sam practically breathed this stuff.

He'd been hoping for a confirmation to his suspicions with a nice, personal remark to his pm pokings, but SamIAm5283 remained just shy of absolute childishness. Sure, he'd made a few retorts, but for the most part he was boringly adult. He hadn't even responded to the 'bitch' message with 'jerk'.

Not that it'd mean anything if he did. He'd seen that exchange on the forums several times during his lurking and trolling. The only thing he had to go on were those little extra details most people would consider extraneous and made-up, while they were so close to reality it was like a neon sign.

Sam was writing. He knew it. How could he catch him at it, though? Sam had to be doing the same thing he was: writing furiously while he was alone.

Speaking of writing….

He signed in to his account and opened up his latest work. He was getting bored with the characters and thought he might spice it up with a few angels. Okay, just one angel. He thought Ellen would like Castiel….

Maybe adding angels would offend the fans.

He wrote, keeping an ear out for Sam returning and pushing through his writer's block by skipping forward to the next scene. Who cared if the scene was left unfinished? His readers didn't seem to notice. Most of them, anyway. By the time he was done, he had something he thought was so completely offensive that he'd finally get all bad reviews. Dean stretched and suddenly noticed the angel standing slightly behind him reading the screen.

"Castiel. Hey. How long have you been -"

"No." Castiel took a step to the table, his un-amused glance turning from the computer screen to Dean.

"I'm just -"

"No."

"You see -"

"No."

"I was -"

"To be perfectly clear, Dean: no."

"Come on, it's just -"

"What am I, Dean?"

"An angel, but -"

"A holy angel of the Lord. Holy, not a…_gigolo_. I do know what that word means and it's not a synonym of holy."

Dean stared at him a beat. That no-nonsense, cool gaze was stern, with a tiny swirling of annoyance. "You're going to make me delete this, aren't you?"

One dark brow twitched upwards. "Don't make me force you."

"Try it." He snorted.

Castiel stretched his hand out towards him.

"Okay, fine." With a put-upon sigh, he highlighted the text. "I was only trying for a new plot direction that hasn't been done before."

"I suggest you look elsewhere for inspiration."

Dean deleted it and with the sound of wings, Castiel was gone. He sulked for about a minute before his imagination latched on to a different idea that had him grinning. If this idea didn't garner only bad reviews, nothing would.

"Title. The Night the Lights Went Out With Jo." He began to write, the angel idea forgotten completely in his enthusiasm for this new idea.

* * *

Jo Harvelle would never admit to reading the kind of fiction she liked to read. Not to her mother and her friends and acquaintances. To admit to liking both schlocky horror and gushy romance was the kiss of death. Jo liked it when both were put together and if push came to shove she might even admit that that combination had somewhat fueled her romantic view of the hunting life.

As soon as she was old enough to have a library card, she'd hidden books from her mom. When Ellen read for pleasure - which wasn't often, she tended towards the classic whodunit mysteries, forensics textbooks, and cookbooks. Not that Ellen cooked much fancy food. She just liked to read the recipes. Jo remembered watching her mom with a cookbook in hand, reading about fancy French dishes as she fried up hamburgers in their kitchen.

But Jo's choice of fiction? Not acceptable. Jo loved the tough and tender heroes, especially when they were paired with tough heroines who kicked ass and took names. She'd even read chick lit if the blurb on the back was interesting.

She entered the All About Books used book store, taking in the ambience of the place before walking the aisles. It was a neatly laid out store, with the sections labeled by laminated signs. The store was long and narrow, two levels it turned out, which was heaven for Jo. She liked to browse, buy a few books, then read them and dump them in the nearest Goodwill bin. It wasn't practical to keep books with her as she traveled and she rarely bought brand new.

She started with the horror section, glancing through the titles to see if any struck her interest. There, in the 'S' section. 'Supernatural'. It looked to be a series, too. She put a finger on the top of the spine, hesitating before pulling it out. Series books were harder because once she was hooked, it was hard to grab all the books in order. Jo tugged the book out, brows raising at the cover. Sure looked like her kind of book. Shirtless Fabio dude. Always a plus to have a cover like that. She read the back cover, flipped it open to read the first page.

Sam and Dean. Coincidence? She continued to read.

"You've got to be kidding me."

She pulled out the book on the end, read the description and first chapter.

'_Ellen and Jo were angry, screaming at each other. Dean and Sam's entry into the Roadhouse went unnoticed by both women for long seconds.'_

"Shit! What the hell?" The dialogue was word for word what she remembered of that argument she and Ellen had gotten into before the Philadelphia hunt.

Ten minutes later, Jo had grabbed all the Carver Edlund books on the shelves and was inquiring where she could find more. The only thing the guy could tell her was to try other used bookstores in the area. Or the comic book place down the road. Jo was on a hunt. One of a different sort than she'd been doing, but a hunt nonetheless.

She spent as much time as she could tracking down books and information, only to discover that some titles just weren't available anymore unless she lucked out in a bargain bin somewhere or at a used bookstore or garage sale. No matter. She managed to find the ones that had 'Jo Harvelle' in them.

Any resemblance between fictional characters and real people is entirely coincidental - her ass!

The writer had to be psychic. Or another hunter, but that didn't explain how those conversations were known, or how she'd felt at each point. Psychic seemed a good bet. Jo haunted the forums, of which she'd found several small ones, lurking and reading, hoping to find some clue as to how it had happened.

What she did discover was something far different. There was a cult following to the books with a high rate of female fans that separated themselves into groups. Though Jo could easily fall into the 'Dean girl' label, she had affection for Sam as well.

"This is bizarre." Jo kept repeating that to herself as she slid further and further into the close-knit fandom.

She found a discussion on herself that made her so mad she created an account (JBethH) and jumped into the discussion. That seemed to happen on all the forums she checked and soon 'JBethH' was the reigning, undisputed authority on Jo Harvelle - aside from the author, of course. She wasn't about to let anyone bad mouth her without a fight, even if they did think they were talking about a fictional character. After all, Jo had feelings and they didn't even know her, so how could they talk about her like that?

Something in that reasoning was skewed and she knew it. However, Jo didn't care.

And then she discovered the fan fiction.

It became a guilty pleasure to read the sort of adventures the fans came up with for Dean and Sam. Sometimes she even ran into stories about her and her mom. Most were even complimentary towards them, though there were those who seemed to despise them for no good reason. Wrapped inside the fandom, she discovered two groups. Sam/Jo 'shippers and Dean/Jo 'shippers. Okay, there were 'shippers for just about every character with the boys and even one for the boys together. Eeew, she decided, but hey, it took all kinds of people, right? To each his own 'ship. Some of those Wincest writers were pretty cool people she discovered. While she didn't read it, she liked to hang out on the forum every so often and chat.

Many of the stories were outright porn and there was a place for that. PWP. The ones written by TheRealDean were _horrible_ porn. Oh, they were correct in description, they were just a mish-mash of cliché male fantasies.

Occasionally there were some gems. Like the stories by that SamIam guy. He had a gift for writing and seemed to really understand things.

The weird thing about both though, were some of the details. TheRealDean and SamIam used details that weren't in those books, yet were true to life, like her preference in body wash, perfume, food…. Her bra size. TheRealDean had her bra size down rather accurately, along with her taste in music. Although…. She supposed her taste in music could have been extrapolated from what had been in the one book, as could her food likes. And maybe SamIAm had been making good guesses based on the character in the book. He was good at characterization.

As she'd interacted with them both, she'd had the nagging thought that they were really Sam and Dean, which was absolutely ridiculous. They couldn't be. She was being silly. Why would the two of them write this stuff? Why would they even know about it? She hardly thought either of them would be interested in reading those books to begin with. Why would they want to read about themselves? She'd dismissed the idea as stupid several times already.

Thinking about them made her somewhat nostalgic for the days of them coming by the Roadhouse. Maybe she'd track them down just to see how they were. Bobby probably had some idea what state they were in. It'd be good to see them again, catch up.

Jo signed in to her email and found a new story alert for both TheRealDean and SamIam. She clicked the SamIam alert first, as his writing was far more palatable after dinner anyway.

Title: In Dark Before Dawn  
Author: SamIam  
Summary: With Dean in hell, Sam is on a downward spiral of self-destructive behavior when Jo arrives on a hunt. Will her determination save him from the clutches of a demonic plot that was begun before he was even born? Sam/Jo  
Rating: M

After reading, Jo sat back.

Demon blood, huh? Risky move.

She knew the story of Sam as a baby and the yellow-eyed demon with the blood, but this? Almost like a continuation of that idea. Gross and totally disgusting, very vampiric, yet the connection made sense from a storytelling view. Demon blood as a baby to prepare him for demon blood at a later date and a breakdown of self.

SamIAm5283 had connected it well in a way that made perfect sense, using the whole idea of a sinister, unknown demonic plan for Sam and Sam's own despair and grief over Dean's death to pull it together.

Gross or not, it had a tragic, real-life, gritty sense to it, leaving her feeling saddened at the sheer heartbreak of a life manipulated by outside forces. The sense of helplessness wrapped within the words was so great that she couldn't help but sympathize with the Sam portrayed. Poor guy needed a hug and someone to hold him and tell him everything would be okay even if it wouldn't be.

She left a review in a private message. She didn't want to unintentionally spoil the plot for anyone.

* * *

Private message to SamIam5283 -  
- "I'm aware you must be pretty tired of hearing me repeat how wonderful your stories are, but really it's all I can say! I loved the part where Jo and Ruby got into a fight and Jo actually won the fight. Nice introduction of that whole demon blood thing. What a creative idea! Knowing just how desperate and out of control Sam was made him sympathetic IMO when in a less skilled writer it would have been a real turn-off. I loved that Jo was a strong woman who could forgive Sam for when the Meg demon used him to attack her and could see past the demon blood to what needed to be done. Their discussion on the subject of the Meg demon was beautifully done. I adored how you had them decide to stick together. Most of all, I love that you're a prolific writer who finishes everything before posting! You're made of awesome, dude!

One thing I'm curious about though. How did you decide what sort of music Jo would listen to? And her favorite food. Where do you come up with all of that?  
JBethH"

Private message to JBethH -  
"I'm always pleased to find one of your reviews waiting in my inbox. Thank you for the compliments. The demon blood was a risk, I admit. It was difficult to convey what would have been going on in Sam's head in a way that would make his actions understandable and, as you wrote, sympathetic even. I had quite a few rewrites on that. As for Jo, she seems strong to me beneath it all. Maybe a little naïve sometimes, but strong nonetheless.

Music? Well, I made a guess based on the facts known from the books. Same with the food. I just picked something.  
SamIam5283"

Private message to SamIam5283 -  
"Guesses? Really? It's just you were so specific I thought for a second maybe you were Carver Edlund IRL having a bit of fun.  
JBethH"

Private message to JBethH -  
"I assure you I'm not Carver Edlund. I don't think I'd want to be him. Even though he wrote quite a few books, there wasn't a wide circulation.  
SamIam5283"

Private message to SamIam5283 -  
"No kidding. I found the ones I've read in used bookstores and I had to search for them everywhere I went. Hey, do you have IM? We could chat instead of PM back and forth.  
JBethH"

* * *

A few minutes later, Jo was signed in to her IM program and was chatting with SamIam. He seemed like a really nice guy and they had a lot in common. In fact, their conversation closely resembled the one she'd had with Sam in Philadelphia after Dean had crashed for the night. The one exchange Carver Edlund _hadn't_ written in that stupid book. She turned her attention back to the chat box.

jbethh - What? Oh, my job? Freelance stuff. Occasionally I bartend.

Occasionally wasn't the word for it. With her experience, it was easy to get bartending positions wherever she was.

samiam - Like the character.

samiam - Jo, I mean. Bartend.

jbethh - Right. Like Jo. Exactly like Jo.

jbethh - You could say I'm a lot like Jo. Freakishly like her.

As in I really am her, she thought.

samiam - Oh yeah? I'm quite a bit like Sam.

Jo smiled and took a long drink from her beer. Oh really, writer boy? You wish. She imagined the writer to be completely unlike Sam in reality, a guy desperately wishing he was Sam. Several long minutes later….

jbethh - So what's your family like?

samiam - Dysfunctional.

jbethh - Whose isn't? My mom can flake out about the weirdest things.

And had. Jo recalled one time where Ellen had given her hell for letting Jaysen Jasper give her a ride home from school in his van. Maybe it hadn't helped that she'd been two hours late coming home that day….

samiam - You close to your mom?

jbethh - I guess. We're ready to kill each other most days, but I don't know what I'd do if she wasn't around. My dad isn't in the picture and I don't have any brothers or sisters, so really it's just the two of us.

Which neatly summed up their relationship. Jo loved Ellen something fierce. The thought of her not being around at all made her want to cry.

samiam - I know what you mean. Half the time anymore I want to strangle my brother. He was doing this thing the other day that had me grinding my teeth trying not to hit him.

The longer they chatted, the more she had the weird feeling she'd actually met him. The way he put things….

jbethh - You seem really familiar. Have we met IRL?

samiam - It's possible, I guess. I'll admit you seem familiar too, like we've talked before.

jbethh - Well, what's your real first name?

She half expected something bizarre, like Aloysius.

samiam - It really is Sam, hence my username.

jbethh - Cool. You got a last name, Sam?

samiam - Why, you gonna Google me?

jbethh - Maybe.

Smiling again, Jo waited. She could imagine him sitting there hoping that if he gave it to her that she'd find him and call him. Several minutes went by and just when she thought he wasn't going to answer her, a new message popped up.

samiam - It's Winchester, like the gun. And you don't need to Google me. All you have to do is ask what you want to know.

Winchester? Jo swallowed hard, her smile fading, the fun suddenly taken out of her hobby. What were the odds of another Sam Winchester writing stories about Sam Winchester when the last name wasn't in the books that she'd found? It wasn't like some dweeb could pick that name from canon.

Wait a minute.

She blinked several times.

Sam. Sam? _Sam_! Why was Sam writing this stuff? _Specifically_ the stories he was writing? Jo's cheeks burned as she recalled the explicit sections of his stories. Did he…. He couldn't. Surely he didn't fantasize…about her?

The fiction told her otherwise. Jo felt an embarrassed flush spread across her chest, neck and face in a hot rush. Her little silly suspicion wasn't quite so silly now.

"Oh, crap," she whispered.

samiam - You still there?

jbethh - I'm here.

jbethh - Hey, Sam, I hate to cut this short, but I've gotta run.

samiam - K.

Jo signed out and sat shaking for a few long minutes. Okay, that 'ship was sunk. Discovering Sam writing those stories made reading them feel wrong, like she was glimpsing private thoughts. It didn't matter that he was putting them out where anyone could read them. What mattered was that she felt like a voyeur now.

Crap, crap, crap. How was she going to face him when she saw him again knowing what she knew? Maybe she _wouldn't_ ask Bobby if he knew where they were.

With a sigh, she went back in to her email and clicked the link to TheRealDean's latest work.

Title: The Night the Lights Went Out With Jo  
Summary: Fun in the dark.  
Rating: M explicit sex

The story had her seeing red. She didn't bother with the review function, sending instead a private message. What she had to say didn't really need to be up for everyone to see it.

* * *

Private message to TheRealDean -  
"Okay, I've been fairly tolerant so far with your characterizations of Jo, but this one completely offends me to such a degree that I want to find you and castrate you with my knife. Then I want to use pliers and remove all of your nails. What will happen after that, I'll leave up to your obviously overworked imagination which will undoubtedly create some sort of porn torture plot where Jo becomes a dominatrix and makes Dean her slave. Or the other way around, which would really be offensive. And sexist. Not that that seems to bother you any.

Jo is not a tattooed, pierced nymphomaniac stripper with a knife fetish who likes a group to watch as she gets off. Nor is she the sort to put up with creepy jerks like you've written Dean to be. Maybe he could get in her pants if he wanted. Maybe he could even get her to do some of the things you've written about, but, as a woman, I gotta say he'd have to be damn amazing in bed for the trade off.

I won't be reading any more of your stories. Frankly, I agree with sam4ever's usual reviews about stupidity and clichés.  
JBethH"

Private message to JBethH -  
"Goodbye kiss?  
TheRealDean"

Private message to TheRealDean -  
"You wish, jerk-off. You'd be lucky to get a girl like me.  
JBethH"

* * *

Jo was still fuming about the story when she sent the last message, blocked TheRealDean, and took him off her author alerts the next day. The longer she thought about all of it, the more things began to click in her head. Some of the details were too true to life. SamIam was explained, but this guy? How could he know….

"Son of a bitch," she yelled.

Dean Winchester really was writing fan fiction.

She was on the phone to Bobby in minutes and checking out of her motel within the hour. It was going to be a long drive.


	4. Tongue Lashing Isn't a Dirty Phrase

Title: That Thing Called Fan Fiction  
Summary: AU Takes place after 'The Monster at the End of this Book'. Ch. 4: Jo confronts Dean and Sam about their new hobby.  
Chapter Title: Tongue Lashing isn't a Dirty Phrase  
Chapter 4  
Rating: K+  
Disclaimer: Supernatural was created by Eric Kripke. No disrespect is intended.  
Notes: Thank you all for reading and for your comments!

* * *

"What the hell is your kid up to?" Bobby sat the phone down and turned to look at Ellen, who was drinking a cup of coffee at the table. Funny how everyone always assumed he knew where those two idiots Sam and Dean were, though in this case he did know where they were, as Sam had called for information only the day before.

"I'm sure I don't know. Not like she tells me anything she doesn't have to. Why?" She looked supremely unconcerned as to what Jo could be up to. Since getting some kind of speaking relationship back with Jo, Ellen had relaxed, no longer certain her baby girl was dying out on the road. He was glad for that, as Ellen could be quite the drama queen when she put her mind to it. Jo had certainly gotten that from her. Both had a flair for the dramatic.

The two talked about once a week, sometimes more if Ellen had a job she thought Jo could do. Ellen was constantly putting files together to give to Jo. Bobby thought it was a way to keep track of her and knew it was only a matter of time before Ellen headed out into the field herself, ostensibly to help, but really to keep an eye on her only child.

"She's looking for Sam and Dean."

"She said something last week about missing them. Maybe she decided to actually go see them instead of just talking about it."

"By her tone, I don't think she was missing them. She sounded annoyed." She'd sounded pissed beyond belief and if Jo was anything like Ellen in that sort of mood, Sam and Dean wouldn't know what hit them.

Ellen shrugged. "Who knows. Maybe she'll tell me when she finally gets her ass to that job we talked about."

"She still hasn't taken care of it?" Wasn't like Jo to ignore a job, especially one that paid. He wondered what had happened to distract her. "It's been weeks since you sent her the info."

"Yeah, well, ghosts aren't her favorite thing in the world to work on, especially since that incident with those amateurs. You should have heard her after that, going on and on about idiots and morons and some guy named Ed who kept feeling her ass. And then she found that they'd put a video up about the whole thing. Not pleased, but at least I didn't have to bail her out of jail, so…." She shrugged. "She must have found someone else to help her bury the bodies or bail her out."

He poured himself a cup and joined her. "Nice you two are talking again."

"We'll see how long that lasts when I actually track her butt down instead of sending her jobs through phone and email."

"That coming soon, because I'd like to be out of the line of fire."

"Hilarious. No, it'll be awhile still. I've got to get to her slowly. If I try to just show up, she'll go for good. This has to be gradual, Bobby. You know Jo. She has to decide she needs me just as much as I need her. It'll come."

"That's why you keep sending her harder jobs."

She smirked. "Hey, you're kind of smart."

"Shhh. Don't tell nobody. Keeps 'em all off-guard."

* * *

For two and a half days, Dean had been trying to get the time to read the new story by SamIAm5384. Unfortunately, Sam was hogging the laptop, busy working on something he was being vague about. All Dean had had time for were a few snarky private messages to various people.

He had his suspicions about that project Sam was working on. At this point, he was fairly certain SamIAm5384 was Sam. All the little fiction signs pointed to that conclusion, as did the variety of comebacks in their private message chats. It'd help if he had solid proof, though unfortunately, it wasn't looking like he was going to get any. Every time he got up and caught a glimpse of the computer screen, it had actual research on it. No fiction anywhere.

Dean lounged on the bed, watching Sam while trying to pretend he wasn't watching Sam. It was almost a relief to hear a knock on their door.

* * *

It was Dean. Had to be. The level of childishness in the remarks, the stories themselves. Dead giveaway. However, Sam couldn't catch him at it. Oh, he'd walk in and catch him at _other_ things, just not writing.

He was regretting giving Dean that crash course on all things computer. It figured that the only part of that lecture he'd listened to had been how to cover his tracks instead of how not to fry the computer with iffy porn sites.

Sighing, he went into ten different mislabeled folders, files, and sub-folders until he found his current work, then opened it.

While it was accurate in detail, he wondered how fans would take it. Would they hate him for it? He also hoped Ruby wouldn't stumble across it. She wouldn't be pleased by where he'd taken the story. Maybe she'd understand it was fiction, that it made him feel less guilty to pretend a quick resolution to something that _did_ cause him a lot of guilt. He thought that Jo would be able to understand, while Dean….

He let that train of thought slide by without examining it more closely.

It was only fiction. It wasn't real.

He posted the story and felt sick to his stomach as the reviews began to come in.

Sam waited for a review by TheRealDean, or a verbal confrontation from Dean, but it didn't come. He noticed Dean watching him, but no altercation occurred. Two and a half days passed and he relaxed, beginning a new piece.

But just when he thought he'd been mistaken after all….

Jo Harvelle knocked on their motel room door.

* * *

Stepping to the door, Jo tugged her shirt a bit lower, exposing the curves of her breasts in a red satiny bra, and tried to pretend she didn't hate this pair of ultra-low rise jeans as much as she'd grown to. Good thing she hadn't chucked them in the Goodwill bin like she'd planned to or she couldn't have used them for this. With a quick check to make sure the g-string she'd bought was visible, Jo licked her lips, struck a pose, and knocked on the motel room door. Hopefully the fake tramp stamp on her lower back hadn't smudged. She'd considered putting a fake birth control patch on her belly too, but thought that might be overkill. Surely the slutty clothes and fake tattoo would give Dean the 'open for business' idea and he'd hang himself quickly.

It was Dean who answered the door.

Very gratifying to see the way his eyes widened as he looked her over, and hear him gulp before saying, "Jo. Um…hey."

She grinned. "Long time no see. What's _up_?"

"You want to come in?" He opened the door wide, half turning. "Hey Sammy, we got company."

Jo stepped inside the room as Sam glanced up from the laptop. There was an intriguing flash of panic in his eyes as he closed the lid. "Sam. You're looking…different these days." Not a lie. He had an edge to him that hadn't been there before, a desperation just barely visible. She wondered if the demon blood story was reality or if he'd really made it up. After all, he _was_ a good writer. It wasn't outside the realm of possibility that it was purely his imagination.

Dean closed the door. "Different? How different?"

"I've been working out more," Sam replied in a cool tone.

She walked to the table, her back to Dean. "Yeah, that's totally it. You're more buff or something."

"Right." Dean grasped her arm, turned her so the light fell on her back. "Jo, what the hell is this on your back?"

She felt his fingers slide along the fake tattoo, tracing the design, the touch light enough to tickle pleasantly. Please don't smudge, she thought, and leaned over slightly, resting her hands on the table. "Just a little something I had done."

"Ellen know you got a tattoo," Sam asked with a frown.

"No, and she's not going to either. Nor will she know about the _other_ one."

Dean's fingers stilled on her lower back. "Other one?"

"You think you two are the only ones with protection tattoos?"

"Yeah? Let's see." The words were challenging and Jo looked over her shoulder at Dean.

"Not unless you take me to dinner first, big boy. I'm not that kind of girl." She could practically hear him thinking 'then why are you dressed like one?' and added with a flirtatious grin, "Unless I get steak and lobster, of course. I could totally be that girl then. You up for that?"

Sam got up from his chair, took a glance at her back with raised brows, and reached for his bag. "So where _is_ the tattoo exactly?" He pulled a flask out and held it up. "Drink?"

Jo turned to face Dean. His fingers grazed her side, then her stomach before he pulled his hand away. She saw a glimmer of suspicion in his eyes. "It's in a very private location." She wiggled her hips, brushing against him, and took the flask. "Sure, I'll have a swig." It was probably holy water. She drank. "You watering down your whiskey, Sam?" She handed the flask back.

"Occasionally."

"How about something salty now," she asked in an innocent tone.

Dean coughed. "You okay, Jo?"

"Why do you ask, Dean?" She thrust her chest out.

"Because you're not acting like yourself."

Jo stared at him, then, Sam, and back to him. "So you _do_ know that's not how I really am. I was beginning to wonder."

He stepped back. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh…." She shrugged. "Just that you two are _so_ busted."

Identical expressions of panic and resignation crossed their faces.

"Busted," Sam asked, putting the flask away and edging towards the computer.

"Busted," Jo confirmed and beat him to it, opening the lid and clicking the user icon. "Watcha workin' on, Sam?"

He looked at her, his gaze measuring before he stepped back. "Fiction."

"Oh, I see," she replied in an overly bright tone, turning the computer and scrolling up to the top of the document. "Are you sure you don't mean fan fiction? Title: The Song of the Lost. Summary: With Dean in hell - "

Dean made a choking noise. "Hey! You _are_ SamIAm!"

"How do you…." Sam's expression changed to exasperated understanding. "You really are TheRealDean."

"Of course I'm the real Dean. Think there's another me out there?"

"No, I just mean I'd pretty much ruled you out as him since TheRealDean never reviewed my last story."

"Gee thanks. Couldn't read or review, as _someone_ was hogging the laptop." He looked at Jo, gestured at her. "What about you, Jo? Does that super-sexy get-up mean you're -"

"JBethH. I'm JBethH. What the hell were you two thinking?"

"Excuse me?" Dean gestured at himself then at Sam. "What were _we_ thinking? I seem to recall little miss, uh, _you_," now he pointed at her, "leaving reviews on Jo/Dean porn. Still get you hot, do I?"

Sam closed the laptop. "Not to mention the Sam/Jo 'shipper stories. Jo, you've got dozens of favorite stories in both 'ships."

"So?" She could feel her face, throat, and chest flushing. "You're both attractive guys. I can be attracted to both of you, but let's face it. Reading is one thing, writing another. Um…I get _you_ two hot apparently?"

"Never said I didn't find you attractive, Jo," Sam's voice was matter-of-fact, his expression calm, "nor did Dean ever deny finding you attractive."

"I guess that's true." Sam hadn't said anything at all, nor had she paid any attention to him. Dean, however, had made several suggestive comments off and on. It had been Dean she'd been interested in…until she'd started reading the books and a ton of fanfic and had thoughts of Sam added in her head.

Dean put his hands on his hips and shook his head. "We're getting nowhere here."

"I think we're getting somewhere." Jo crossed her arms. "Let's explore why you thought it was a good idea to write fan fiction about yourselves…and me, mom, and others. Oh, and Dean? Just for the record? My mother thinks of you as a son. She'd whup your ass for suggesting the two of you get it on. And for suggesting the…_other_ thing. Shit, I might just whup your ass for her. That was one of the most disgusting ideas I've ever run across. Eeww. Are you nuts?"

"It was fiction," he protested.

"Tattoos in uncomfortable places? Piercings in equally uncomfortable places? What the freakin' hell was going on in your head?"

Reaching out, he grasped her arm and turned her, resting his hand on her lower back. "What the freakin' hell yourself, Jo?" The words were a harsh growl in her ear. "You got a tattoo?"

"It's fake," she snapped. "It'll wash off in the shower within a couple weeks."

"And the other one in the private place?"

She tugged her arm away and punched him in the arm as hard as she could. It wasn't nearly as satisfactory as she'd hoped as he didn't even flinch at the contact. "I don't get Brazilian waxes because of what they require and you think I'd go spread-eagle naked to get a protection tattoo there?"

"How was I supposed to know neither was real?"

To their right, Sam leaned against the wall and crossed his arms, watching but not saying anything.

"What. Were. You. Thinking?" She bit out each word like it's own little sentence, poking his chest with one finger to punctuate the words.

"It was fiction, Jo. None of it was real. All made up."

"Yeah." She fished her necklace from her pocket and held it up. "I'm a jewelry girl, Dean. I like girly necklaces, bracelets, earrings, ankle bracelets, not…." She pointed to her crotch.

"I know that."

"Uh-huh. And while I like jewelry, I so wouldn't get a piercing there. Do you have any idea how unsanitary that is? The possibilities for infection alone…." She snorted.

"Well -"

"And the whole stripper and fetish thing? Do you know me at all?"

"You were just a character in my head…." He looked at Sam. "You think this was how Chuck felt when we walked up to his door?" Going to the low dresser, he leaned against it. "Okay, I get your point."

"Do you really, Dean? Because I'm real, with real feelings and you know that, but you still wrote that trash. You wrote down your… _weird_ guy fantasies and put them out where everyone can read them!"

"It wasn't like I thought you were ever going to read it. Why _were_ you reading it anyway?"

"I ran across some Carver Edlund books that had word for word recreations of conversations I remember having. I got curious and then I sort of…got sucked in to the whole fandom thing." She shrugged. "But that doesn't explain you two writing it. What the hell?" She was using that phrase a lot, yet it fit her frame of mind at present.

"I got carried away," Sam said. "Simple as that. Fiction is easier than real life. In fan fiction you can change things. You can make things the way they should have been. You can have happiness when real life fails."

"With fan fiction you can tease the fan girls," Dean added, "really whip them into a frenzy. Have you _seen_ some of the responses I've gotten?"

"That is so whacked."

"Passes the time."

"Dean…." Jo shook her head. "I'm really uncomfortable with those stories."

"Why? They're not real. They're just made-up stories like all the others on there. Not like the books themselves that are reality. Unless you've got some hidden desire to be a stripper or something."

"But...do you really…" She broke off and looked away.

"Do I what?"

"Never mind. I shouldn't have come here. This was a complete mistake and a stupid idea."

"No, Jo, come on. What is it?"

"Do you think I'm like that? Like how you wrote?" The idea that Dean thought she was the way he'd written her in any way, shape, or form saddened her.

* * *

Dean could see the hurt in Jo's eyes and sighed, rubbing one hand along the tight muscles on the back of his neck. "God, Jo, no. Of course I don't see you like that. I just wanted to see how bad a story had to be before the fans rejected it so I wrote in every potentially offensive thing I could think of and tweaked it. Yes, I did have a checklist, which you asked at one point."

Sam cleared his throat. "Having read a couple of those, Jo, I can assure you, neither of us think you're like that at all."

"Really?"

"Absolutely," Dean told her and saw a flicker of satisfaction replace the hurt.

"Good, because if you two jerk-offs think I'm anything like that…. That thing I mentioned with the knife in that private message, Dean? It will happen. And I will make it as painful as possible." Now the anger was growing once more, Jo pursing her lips and taking a deep breath that he knew was a prelude to more of her opinion on the subject.

He put the table between them. "There'll be no castrating either of us."

"Ca-cast…what?" Sam joined him on the other side of the table. "Castrating? Jo -"

"Dean Winchester, where do you get off thinking it's okay to write that sort of insulting garbage about someone you know? I mean seriously? What really was going on in your head that you thought it was acceptable? I'm not a nymphomaniac, or a tattooed, pierced stripper with a knife fetish. Sure I like knives. They're good weapons to have around, as you well know, but a fetish? No. I'm a hunter and I think I'm getting to be a damn good one, too."

"Mine wasn't offensive," Sam protested. "Don't castrate me."

"Yours wasn't, but his was. You're fairly safe from castration at this point. Dean however…." She pointed at Dean. "You're deleting it. All of it. Every last disgusting, nauseating, repulsive, kinky excuse for a story or…."

"Or what," he interrupted, placing his hands flat on the table and leaning across it towards her. "What are you going to do?"

She stared at him, one brow quirking and a smug smirk forming as she copied his pose, putting them face to face. "I'll bring my mother in to this, too. I can just hear her when I show her the one about the three of us…." Now her other brow raised, voice going all breathy and seductive as she added, "Oh, Dean, you've been such a bad boy. However shall we punish you?"

A valid threat. Ellen wouldn't be as nice as Jo about it. She really _would_ kick his ass- and then do it again for good measure. He swallowed hard and stood up straight. "You're over reacting." He actually saw the fury increase in her eyes. "That came out wrong."

"Make it come out right quick -"

"What I meant was you should calm down because it was only fiction."

Jo sucked in a breath and stood up straight.

"Don't think that helped," Sam said out of the corner of his mouth.

"Maybe I should just shut up."

"There's an idea." Jo crossed her arms. "I get that you were taunting the fan girls. Some of them even deserve it, but think about my feelings. Mom's feelings. Think about that woman Bela's -"

"To be fair, Bela was a manipulative bitch. I seriously doubt she even had feelings."

"Still. It's different because you know me. You both know me and Dean…it _hurt_ when I realized it was you writing that stuff." All the anger seemed to drain out of her and she turned her gaze to the tabletop. "Come on, guys. What's the right thing to do here?"

Dean glanced at Sam. "I'll delete mine if he'll delete his."

"You two delete your stories and accounts and I'll delete my account. Is that fair?"

"And what? We forget it never happened?" Sam shook his head. "That can only be written in fan fiction, because I don't think there's any way any of us are forgetting it."

Jo turned her attention back up to them. "So we look at it like we do everything in our jobs. File it away. It's not forgetting, it's just…putting it away so it's not out in the open all the time. God knows I've had to file away some stupid crap."

"Like what?" Curiosity rose up inside him. What sort of stupid crap had Jo been dealing with?

"Let's agree to delete the accounts, go out to dinner to catch-up, and I might tell you all about my run-in with two jerks calling themselves the GhostFacers. I believe you've met them?"

Dean exchanged a wary glance with Sam, remembering that video Sam had found. "Too late for that one, Jo. We already saw the video of you. Very entertaining."

"Nice to see someone besides us giving them hell for once." Sam reached for his jacket.

She rolled her eyes. "Oh geez. Is there anyone besides my mom that didn't see that before I got it down?"

He laughed. "I doubt it, but we have a copy here somewhere if she'd be interested in it." After a moment, Dean held out his hand. "I'll delete my account. Shake on it?"

"Shake on it." Her grip was firm. "So…. You guys buying dinner or am I?"

"That depends. If we buy you steak and lobster," he let his gaze drift down her and back up, "do we get to see you do that naked spread eagle thing?"

"Um…no." She pulled her hand away. "I'd need a little more than steak and lobster to do that."

"What if we get you drunk?"

She laughed. "Contrary to the clothes, I'm not that easy."

He 'tsked'. "Damn. What do you think, Sam? Should we buy her dinner anyway?"

"Actually, I think you made a promise to buy her shots after watching that video of her on the GhostFacers site."

"Oh yeah…. I did promise shots."

"Tell you what, Jo. I'll buy dinner, Dean'll buy drinks."

"Sounds like a plan, though if you don't mind, I'd like to change into something a little less slutty."

When she was in the bathroom changing clothes, Dean expected Sam to say something about the stories, but he didn't. Instead, he looked rather guilty. Maybe he'd let Sam off just this once….for awhile anyway. He was in for a good ribbing later and knew he'd get one right back.

"You deleting?"

"Yeah, give me a sec and you can get on here."

"No hurry." Sure, he'd delete it, but Jo hadn't said he couldn't create a new account….

* * *

Dinner was enjoyable and when Dean insisted on looking over her car before she left, Jo took the opportunity to talk to Sam in the room. She had a couple questions before she left.

"How much of that last work you posted is real, Sam?"

He took off his jacket, avoiding her eyes. "Some."

"Some. The blood?"

He shook his head. "No."

She could see the lie and the sheer shame of the situation in his eyes. A part of her heart broke for him. "What about the demon, Sam? Is she real?"

"Ruby? Yeah, but she's on our side."

Oh Sam…. He had to know that demons lie, right? "Are you absolutely sure?"

"Yes." He looked right at her then, confident - except for the tiny sliver of doubt that flickered like a dying light bulb. He'd mostly convinced himself that it was truth, she saw.

But if he wrote to change things as he claimed, how much of that story was him crying out for help? For understanding? How much was him hoping someone would see the truth and stop it all? Yet…. What if it _was_ fiction like he claimed and he really was that good of a writer? She had no proof, only a gut feeling.

"I deleted the story, Jo. And the account, just like you wanted."

"Sam…. I could stay. Like you wrote. I could -"

"No. No, Jo. I don't…" He cleared his throat. "I don't want you to get hurt because of me. Not again."

"I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself. I understand risks."

"I know, I know. But this is my fight. Forget what you read, okay? It's all fiction. Fiction can make things right. Reality is a bit harder. Reality hurts and if you get hurt, no amount of writing that it didn't happen will undo it."

She hugged him, raised up on tiptoe and pressed a kiss to his cheek when he leaned down to her. "You can call me, you know. It's what friends are for."

"I know."

"Do you?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I do. Thanks for coming to see us, Jo."

"Anytime." She gestured towards the parking lot. "I'm gonna go say goodbye to Dean and get on the road. Long drive ahead of me."

"You have a destination in mind?"

"Oh yeah. I know where I'm headed." She lifted her purse. "See ya."

Outside, she found Dean at her car, leaning against the trunk with his arms crossed. She put her purse in the car and joined him.

"I deleted the stories and account," he told her. "Did it right after Sam took care of his."

"Thank you. I'll delete my account when I stop for the night."

"I didn't mean to hurt you, Jo. I got carried away trying to disgust people is all."

"Well, you did disgust _me_."

He chuckled. "Not my goal, believe me."

"What, I'm not a person?"

"No, you're a person, I just…you know -"

"Yeah, I do. You don't actually disgust me, Dean. Your imagination though?" She whistled long and low. "Lay off the weird porn, okay?"

He turned to face her. "You know you don't have to leave so quickly, right? Stay awhile."

She smiled. "And what? Ride along in the backseat of the Impala? Nah." She shook her head. "I'm an independent woman."

"You are hunter woman, hear you roar?"

"Something like that." Jo put her hand on his. "Look, I told Sam you guys can call me. I _will_ help if I can. You can always call me, Dean."

"You know I'm not good at calling, Jo."

Now she nodded. He wasn't good at calling. She'd known that about him for a very long time. "I do know, but…the offer still stands." She squeezed his hand and released it. "I gotta go. I put off a job to come here and I've got a couple of people waiting for me, so…."

"So you're heading out."

"I am." She went to the driver's door and got inside, starting it up.

"Jo." Dean leaned down in the open door. "Drive safe, okay?"

"Always."

When Jo stopped for the night, she began to systematically remove herself from the fandom, deleting her accounts one by one, saving the fan fiction site for last. She opened her email and was surprised to find a private message waiting from a user called TheRealDean2.

Private message to JBethH:  
"Jo - Sam said fan fiction is for making things right. How's this for a happy ending?  
Dean"

Jo clicked the user name. He'd published one story.

Title: All Forgiven  
Summary: Rather than call, Dean shows up at Jo's door after BUABS.  
Rating: M

She almost didn't click the link, but was intensely curious as to what he'd written this time. With a tiny sliver of misgiving, Jo clicked and read…and laughed. Typical. Just typical. In true Dean fashion, it was porn, though not quite as terrible as what he'd published with the other account and certainly not offensive.

Private message to TheRealDean2 -  
"I should have known when you wrote 'happy ending' that you meant _that_ kind of happy ending. You're incorrigible."

Private message to JBethH -  
"What? The story had a happy ending all the way around. Don't you like happy endings? *wink*"

Private message to TheRealDean2 -  
"I love happy endings. *kiss noise* Use your imagination as to what _I_ mean by that phrase."

Private message to JBethH -  
"Tease."

Private message to TheRealDean2 -  
"Flirt. Deleting the account now, Dean."

Private message to JBethH -  
"Fun while it lasted, right, Jo?"

She sat back in her chair. Fun? Not the word she'd use. She tried to come back with a witty response and failed, finally settling on one that conveyed her pleasure at seeing them, her understanding of how he was, and her concern for both of them.

Private message to TheRealDean2 -  
"I enjoyed catching up with you two. Don't be a stranger, Dean. It's far too long between visits. And if you accidentally lose my number like last time? You can always get a message to me through Bobby. You two take care, okay? *hug*"

There was no reply, nor did Jo expect one this time. They'd meet again, she knew it. Maybe not soon, but it would happen.

And maybe, someday, she might even consider a happy ending.

Jo smiled to herself.

Three guesses how _she_ meant that phrase.

The End.


End file.
